Shehbaz says anarchist elements can’t be allowed to obstruct national development, progress. Imran-led PTI always uses violent means to hold protests in federal capital as it doesn’t believe in democratic and political norms. Interior minister briefs cabinet on operation to clear Islamabad of protesters.
ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday expressed his zero tolerance for any future violent onslaught and sit-ins by a group of miscreants in Islamabad and resolved to take stern decisions to put an end to repeated string of violent chaos and damages to the country’s economy.
Addressing a meeting of the federal cabinet here, the PM said that with the collective deliberations, they had to take strict measures, to quell such scenes in future as they could no longer put all their resources and energies into it, leading to economic destruction, he observed.
“They should have only one option before them; that is progress and prosperity of Pakistan. As a Prime Minister, chief executive, as members of the cabinet and parliamentarians, they will not let that coterie of anarchy to inflict further harm on country’s economy,” he maintained.
The prime minister castigated PTI and its jailed leader Imran Khan and made scathing attack on him saying he (Imran) had always used violent means to hold protests in the federal capital as he did not believe in democratic and political norms.
He said the PTI was really bothered about why Pakistan avoided financial default and turned the ailing economy in the positive direction. Shehbaz said, “We have no option, except the development and progress of Pakistan.”
The PM said anarchist elements cannot be allowed to obstruct the development and progress of the country.
He said protests, anarchy and unrest are lethal for the economy. He said Pakistan Stock Exchange had crossed the mark of 99,000 points before the protest, which nosedived in just one day with a decline of around 4,000 points.
He said the Stock Exchange again crossed the mark of 99,000 as soon as peace restored in Islamabad yesterday.
Shehbaz Sharif said protests inflict around 190 billion rupees loss on the national economy daily.
The Prime Minister said PTI laid the foundation of anarchical protests in 2014 and has been pursuing this tendency and approach since then. He said we have to end this gang mindset.
He said this party has always attempted to create unrest in the country on important occasions like the visit of Chinese President, SCO conference and visit of the Saudi delegation. He said we could have avoided this day had the courts punished the culprits involved in May 9 incidents in a speedy manner.
The PTI protestors should understand that this economic turnaround was due to the tireless efforts of his economic teams 16 months and not something which suddenly happened.
The prime minister went on to say that even worst critics of the government agreed and praised the fact that the economic direction is now set for the positive path.
“Should we destroy all these achievements for their sake?” he questioned.
The PM also said the military leadership has also been instrumental in its support for the steps taken by the democratic government for the revival of the economy.
He lambasted PTI of its violent manner of politics and referred to the PML-N, PPP and JUI-F past protests in Islamabad, but not a plant was damaged in their protests.
He said that in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the terrorists and insurgency was on the rise while in Kurram, dozens of people were killed, but instead focusing on the law and order situation there, the provincial government had left the residents in the lurch and led an armed attack on Islamabad.
The prime minister said that the provincial government of KP did not pay heed to the hardships of the poor people but instead indulged in foul language and hurled threats against the federal government.
The PM criticized the recent video statement of Imran Khan’s wife implicating Saudi Arabia into controversy and remarked her statement as anti state.
The prime minister acknowledged the efforts of Islamabad police, Rangers and security personnel in handling the situation in the city and said they played a crucial role in maintaining peace and law and order situation.
The PM also praised the efforts of two of his close cabinet colleagues, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and Information Minister Attaullah Tarar who, he said, also played the frontal roles in maintaining peace in the country.
Earlier, the cabinet was given briefing by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on the violent march by PTI and said police and Rangers sacrificed their lives to protect the lives and properties of citizens as well as of the state.